Pumping system.



P. H. SHUE.- PUMPING SYSTEM.

APPucATloN man :uLY 1.` 1914.

- Patented Sept.4 12, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

INVENToR. P ff SHI/E.

WITNESSES:`

P. H. SHUE.

PUMPlNG SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 7| 1914. 1 1 97,77 1 Patented Sept. 12, 1916. 2SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENToR. hf 6HL/5.

i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PHILIP H. SHUE, 0F DENVER, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR 'IO ELMER SIKES, OFDENVER,

COLORADO.

' PUMIING SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

Application filed July 7, 1914. Serial No. 849,418. f

T 0 all whom t may concern Be it known that I, PHILIP H. SHUE, a citizenof the United States, residing at Denver, in the county of Denver andState of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPumping Systems, of which the following is a specification. y

My invention relates to pumps of the type in which a liquid orsemi-solid is transported to an elevated point of discharge by thepressure of air or other expansible gas in a closed displacementchamber.

The primary object of my invention resides in providing in a system ofthis character, an associationv of units of simple and durableconstructionwhich coperate to raise by the expansive action ofcompressed air or other similar motive fluid, liquid from one or moresources of supply, to any desired elevation.

Another object of my invention is to construct the units to operatewithout the aid of moving parts other than the necessary check valvesand so that sand, gravel and other solids can be raised with the liquidwithout injury to the operative parts or interference with their eectiveaction, and still a further object "of the invention is to provide meansfor preventing the escapeof motive fluid before its displacing actionupon the liquid to be raised.

The above and other objects, all of which will fully appear in thefollowing description, I attain by the system and apparatus illustratedin the accompanying drawings in the various views of which'like partsare similarly designated, and in which,

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the preferred form of my pumpingsystem in its operative position with relation tol a source of watersupply, and an operating mechanism of suitable construction, Fig. 2, anelevation drawn to a reduced scale, of a similar mechanism in which thenumber of units comprised in the system has been increased to lift waterfrom a greater depth or to a point of greater elevation, Fig. 3, asectional elevation illustrating a modification of the construction andarrangement'of the units, designed for the purpose of their` coperationto raise water from two or more separate sources of supply, lFig. 4, asectional elevation showing my invention in its simplest form in whichtwo coperative units are combined in a single part-for raising liquid toa limited elevation, and Fig. 5, a transverse section taken along theline 5 5, Fig. 4. f

The principal.v elements of my improved system common to all its forms,are a plurality of liquid receiving units 27 and a valve 21 whichcontrols the flow of a motive fluid to and from the same.

Each unit comprises a displacement chamber provided with onev or morevalves for the admission of liquid into which it is immerged, adischarge pipe, a checlr valve normally closing the same, and an openingfor connection with the above-mentioned controlling valve which isconstructed to alternately place the said opening of each unit incommunication with a source of expansive fluid and the atmosphere, andto simultaneously effect the same condition in reverse order in acompanion unit.

While the operation of the controlling valve may be effected by anysuitable mechanism within the spirit of my invention, I preferablyemploy a mechanism which is shown and described in my co-pendingapplication, Serial Number 849,419, filed July 7, 1914, and whichbriefly is constructed as follows: A cylinder 2 mounted in a horizontalposition on a supporting structure 3 connects at its opposite ends withthe housing of a valve 4 which by means of a cam 5 and a rocker lever 6is moved to and fro to alternately place the said ends'of the cylinderwhich normally connect with the atmosphere, in communication with asource of fluid under pressure. The cam receives its continuous rotarymotion from a suitable driving element through the intermediary of apair of cone-pulleys 7 and 8 connected by a belt 9, and anvorm 10 whichoperatively engages a corresponding wheel 12 on the shaft of one of saidpulleys, and which by means of a pulley and a belt is connected with thedriving element. Areciprocating piston 15 in the cylinder 2 imparts bymeans of a pitman 16, a rocking movement to a crank shaft i7 whichthrough the medium of a pair ofsprocket-wheels 18 and 19, and acorresponding chain 20, effects the operation of the controlling valve21. The motive fluid required for the displace- A ment of liquidcontained in the units above mentioned, is preferably provided by anair` compressor installed in suitable proximity to loo the apparatus,and when the above described mechanism is employed for the operation ofthe controlling valve, the compressor provides at the same time themeans lfor the supply of motive fluid to the cylinder and for theactuation of the worm 10. In the drawings, the pipes leading from thecompressor to the valves 4 and 21 have been designated bythe numerals22, and the belt which operatively connects a rotary part of the samewith a pulley 13 on the worm shaft, by means of the numeral 14.

The Acontrolling valve 21 of the pumping system comprises a housingprovided at quadrant points with ports, two opposite ones of which areby means of pipes 23 and 24 connected respectively with the hereinbeforementioned air intakeand exhaustopenings of the two units, while anintermediate port 25 connects with the atmosphere for the exhaust ofspent fluid from the unitsv andL a thereto opposite port which connectswith the before mentioned pipe 22 of the air compressor. The rotary bodyof the valve has two ducts 26 which at the ends of its oscillatingmovement simultaneously connect adjoining ports in the housing for thepassage of fluid from one to the other, so that in the operation of thevalve, the two units are alternately and reversely placed incommunication with the exhaust port 25 and the thereto opposite intakeport.

In the preferred form of my invention which is illustrated in Fig. 1 ofthe drawings, two units are placed one above the other, the lower onebeing immerged in the body of liquid to be elevated, such as iscontained in the bottom of a well 28.

Each unit, which, as mentioned hereinbefore, provides a displacementchamber to alternately receive a body of water and a correspondingquantity of liquid-displacing air, is composed of a cylindrical shell29, the edges of which are let into circular grooves of two heads 30 and31 which are rigidly connected by means of bolts 32.

The upper head of each unit has a central valve chamber 33 formed by acentrally apertured screw-cap 34 which by means of an interposedcoupling ring 35 is connected with a flange which exteriorly surrounds acentral opening 38 in the head.

The lower head of each unit has a central depression to' provide a sump36 beneath the inlet opening of a discharge pipe 37 which at its upperend .is connected with the opening 38 of the opposite head. A Hap-valve39 is disposed in the valve chamber of each unit to control the How-ofliquid through the opening in which the pipe 37 is connected, andsimilar valves are applied to ports 40 in the lower head of the lowerunit, through which the liquid in which the latter is immerged, isadmitted int-o the displacement chamber.,y

The valve chamber of the lower unit connects by means of a pipe 41screwed into thev aperture of its cap 34,with an. intake opening 42 inthe sump of the upper unit, the flow through which is controlled by aflap valve 43, and the valve chamber of the upper unit is connected witha conduit 44 through which the liquid displaced in the operation of thesystem is conducted'to the desiredpoint of discharge.

The air openings of the two units are by means of the before mentionedpipes 23 and 24, respectively connected with the opposite air-dischargeports of the valve 21, the pipe 23which leads to the lower unit passingthrough the displacement chamber of the upper one to avoid the presenceof exterior parts which might interfere with the installation of theunits in a well of limited diameter. l

ln the operation of the system, the oscillating controlling valveplaces, as mentioned hereinbefore, the two air openings of the unitsalternately and reversely in communication with the supply of motivefluid (in `this instance the air compressor), and the exhaust opening 25so that while air is admitted into the displacement chamber of the lowerunit, air is simultaneously exhausted from the chamber of the otherunit, and vice versa.

During the exhaust of air from the lower I unit, the`liquid in which theunit is immerged' is compelled to enter its displacement chamberthroughthe normally valveclosed ports in its lower head, until theposition of the controlling valve is reversed when the consequentadmission of the compressed air into the lower unit through the pipe 23,compels the liquid contained in the unit to'iiow through the dischargepipe 37 into the valve chamber 33 and to thence rise in the pipe 41toenter the displacement chamber of the upper unit, it being understoodthat by the pressure of the body of air which displaces the liquid,'thevalves of the ports 40 are closed and the check valves which control theiow through the pipes 37 and 41 are simultaneously opened.

At the next succeeding reversal of the position of the valve, whenthegreater portion of the liquid contents of the lower unit has beentransported to the upper unit, the exhaust of air from the lower unitwill cause an inow of water as before, while the simultaneous admissionof air to the upper unit will displace the liquid contained therein andcompel it to flow through the pipe 37 into the valve chamber 33 andthence through the conduit 44 ,to the point of discharge, it beingobvious that by the pressure of the air on the liquid, the valves 43 and39 are respectively closed and opened. 1t will thus be seen that whenthe valve 21 is continuously oscillated by the operation of themechanism with which it is connected, equal quantities of water will beintermittently discharged from the upper unit in rapid succession. Y

The admission of air to the units is regulated so that but part of theircontents are discharged and a sulicient quantity is left in the bottomportions of the units to seal the inlet openings of the respectivedischarge pipes 37 as is indicated in the upper unit of the system shownin Fig. 1, and thereby prevent the escape of air.

The sumps in the bottom of the units directly beneath the discharge'pipes, provide catch basins for sand, gravel and other solid matterwhich entered the displacement chambers together with the water, therebycompelling the same to be drawn into the respective pipes and preventingtheir accumulation in other parts of the units where they mightinterfere with the proper operation of the apparatus. By increasing thenumber of units the water may be transported from one to the otherprogressively and thus raised to any desired elevation with the same airpressure and strength of material.

For the coperative action of the units each two companion units areconnected with a separate controlling valve as shown in Fig. 2 of thedrawings, it being understood that by increasing the number o'f sprocketwheels 18 on theV crank shaft 17 of the operating mechanism, any desirednumber of these valves'may be operated simultaneously for the co-actionof a corresponding number of pairs of units.

In the construction shown in Fig. 2, four units A, B, C and D arearranged in two pairs E and F, placed one above the other, the units ofthe pair E being connected with a controlling valve G and those of thepair F with a controlling valve H, While the .two controlling valves areoperatively connected with the crank shaft 17 as hereinbefore described.After the lowest unit A has been filled with liquid from the body inwhich it is immerged, the subsequent admission of air to said unit inthe next phase of the oscillatory motion of theI valve G, will cause itsliquid contents to be displaced into the next unit B from which the airis at the esame time exhausted to permit the liquid to enter the same.At the end of the following motion of the controlling valve G, the airbeing exhausted from the lowest unit, causes a renewed inflow of water,while the simultaneous admission of air to the next unit B whichpreviously had been filled, will compel the water to enter the thirdunit C. from which air is being exhausted through the port 25 of thevalve H. After the following movement of the two valves, the watercontained in the lowest unit again flows into the next unit, and thatcontained in the unit two companion units are each provided with iadmission ports in the bottoms of their respective ldisplacementchambers, like the lower one of the two units of the construction shownin Fig. 1. The valve chambers on the upper ends of the two units are inthis form connected with a common discharge conduit 45, but theconnections of the air openings with thel controlling valve 21 are thesame as in the lirst described form. This construction of my pump isparticularly adapted for use in places where there are a number of`separated wells or other sources of water supply which singly do notprovide a sufiicient amount of water for the purpose for which it isdesired.

The form illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 differs from the others in thatthe two units are combined into one part which consists of a cylinderconstructed similarly to one of the units of the other forms and dividedby a longitudinal partition 46 into two separated displacement chamberseach provided with one` or more liquid admission ports 40. The dischargepipes 37 of these displacement chambers open into a common valve chamberwith which the conduit 44 is connected, and the airA openings of thesame connect with the controlling valve as in the other constructions.

The last described form of my invention is designed for use in placeswhere it is desired to lift a. limited quantity of water to a limitedelevation. 4 It will be understood that by adjustment of the belt 9 onthe correlative cone-pulleys Tof the operating mechanism, the movementsof the controlling valve relative to that of the compressor may beregulated and that in consequence the pump may be readily adjusted toany compressor of suitable construction to raise the water or otherliquid in any desired quantity within the capacity of the apparatus.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure byLetters- Patent is: f

1. In combination', a series of displacement chambers, and'valve-controlled discharge conduits extending from a point adjacentthel bottom of each chamber of the series into the next adjoining one,the chambers at opposite ends of the series having respectively a waterinlet and a Water-outlet and all the chambers of the series beingseparately connected with a source of fluidpressure.

2. In combination, a series of displacement chambers, valve-controlleddischarge conduits extending from a point adjacent the bottom of eachchamber of the series into the next adjoining one, the chambers atopposite ends of the series having respectively a water-inlet and aWater-outlet and all the chambers of the series being separatelyconnected with a source of fluid-pressure, and valve-mechanism operatingto discontinue the supply of fluid pressure to the chambersperiodically, and simultaneously in alternate chambers of the series.

3. In combination, a series of displacement chambers in pairs,valve-controlled discharge-conduits extending from a point adjacent thebottom of each chamber of the series into the next adjoining one, thechambers at the opposite ends of the series having respectively aWater-inlet and a Water-outlet, and all the chambers of the series beingseparately connected With a source of fluidpressure, and valvesoperating to periodically discontinue the supply of fluid-pressure tothe chambers of each pair alternately, and coperating to eHect saidperiodic Vdiscontinuation of said supply simultaneously in correspondingchambers of the pairs comprised in the series In testimony whereof Ihave affixed my signature. in presence of two Witnesses.

PHILIP H. SHUE.

Witnesses:

Gr. J. ROLLANDET, L. RHoADEs.

